Rescue efforts are continuing in a remote village of Papua New Guinea's Enga province which was left flattened by Friday's devastating landslide, though emergency teams have been struggling to reach the affected site with road access being largely blocked off.

The landslide struck in the early hours of Friday while many people were asleep at home. The disaster is feared to have killed hundreds, though the official number of casualties has yet to be announced.

Local media reported on Saturday that more than 300 people were thought to have been buried by the landslide which has leveled dozens of homes in the remote village, located some 600 kilometers north of the capital Port Moresby.

Gorethy Kenneth, a journalist from Papua New Guinea's Post Courier newspaper, said the government had sent out a dedicated natural disaster team alongside healthcare workers and police to the location of the landslide, but noted that rescuers are encountering difficulties due to the area's tough terrain.

"We have Papua New Guinea's defense force rescue team already on its way to the Enga province to assist the Enga provincial government [to] carry on with the rescue operations that they have had [ongoing] since the incident has happened, the landslide. The location is geographically very hard to access. You can only have helicopters access that place. The ones (victims) that are alive have naturally been taken to a safer location by the Enga provincial government," said Kenneth.

The Enga provincial government has also dispatched an assessment team to provide guidance during the ongoing rescue operation, while the affected region and other highland provinces are on high alert as the threat of more landslides looms large amid the country's continuing wet season.

SHOTLIST:

Enga Province, Papua New Guinea - May 24, 2024
1. Various of buried home, overturned vehicle, rubbles, debris in wake of landslide;
2. Villagers digging through rubble in search of buried victims;
3. Affected villagers;

Enga Province, Papua New Guinea - Recent
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Gorethy Kenneth, journalist, Post Courier (ending with shot 5):
"We have Papua New Guinea's defense force rescue team already on its way to the Enga Province to assist the Enga provincial government [to] carry on with the rescue operations that they have had [ongoing] since the incident has happened, the landslide. The location is geographically very hard to access. You can only have helicopters access that place. The ones (victims) that are alive have naturally been taken to a safer location by the Enga provincial government.";

Enga Province, Papua New Guinea - Recent
5. Aerial shots of landslide site.

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